“Those Who Also Served”
A Personal Tribute to the Chairmen and
Committee members who served the RLIRA in Africa.
Zimbabwe
The RLIRA committee in 1982/3 was
chaired by Col John Cole, and met roughly once a month, in Harare, in “the dead
of night”, in the First Street CABS building, in an office on the top floor.
I was recruited by Colin Dace to take
over as Secretary as he was moving on soon. As I recall in those days we had to
operate clandestinely, and so we developed a strong and reliable network of
communication between us which would give us early warning if there was any hint
of possible scrutiny or worse from the powers in charge.
Despite the “cloak and dagger” stuff,
and under the leadership of John Cole, we successfully managed to run the
affairs of the Association for a few years.
The membership was approximately 25
strong and I only recall ever attending one RLI function [ Regimental Day
1983/84 ] on the banks of Lake
Mac. I recall this event being well
attended, despite the need to be clandestine. It was a great opportunity to
catch up with men I had last seen in the days of service in the RLI.
However, an ever dwindling membership,
as the “ouens” packed up their families and headed South, made it difficult to
operate. This, coupled with the political situation at the time, meant the
writing was on the wall for the RLIRA in Zimbabwe and it was decided to wrap up
the Association in Zimbabwe. I cannot recall the exact date the RLIRA ceased to
exist in Zimbabwe, but I am sure someone somewhere can enlighten me.
South Africa
Using existing records and the personal
accounts from some of the members, I have attempted to put together some information
regarding the RLIRA in South Africa from the early 1980’s.
The numerous Committees, elected over
the years were successful at ensuring that the men of the RLI were always in
one way or another “kept in the loop” with regards to well being and general
business of the Association.
1980
Informal gatherings were arranged from
time to time normally by Jono Dixon at the Fourways Hotel in Johannesburg, and RLI
matters were discussed over a few drinks.
Usually in attendance were Jono Dixon, Charlie Aust, Pat Hill, Ian Bate,
Ken Bothma and Dereck Stokes.
1981 –1983
In January 1981 John Cole was elected as the
first Chairman of the RLIRA in South Africa. His committee was made up of some well
known and respected men of the RLI namely: Ian Bate –Vice Chair, Jono Dixon –Secretary , Dereck Stokes-Treasurer, area Liaison members consisted of: Kip Donald , Simon Harroff , Pat Hill , Steve Carey , Frank Gerber.
Other RLI personalities who also served
in the first committee were: Rob Korb, Bill Moon, Theo Serfontein, John Pearson Allen Lindner. Membership was estimated at 18.
Highlights and
Achievements
*About six crates of kit and Equipment
plus The Trooper Statue had to be cared for and were secured in the Military
History Museum in Saxonwold, Johannesburg.
Charlie Aust, in his capacity as last
Commanding Officer of the RLI , held talks with SA Government officials regarding
suitable storage and display of
RLI Trooper and memorabilia. The SA officials
would not allow the RLI to display their statue or memorabilia in any
Municipality owned building, and would only allow such display should a new
wing be built at the Military Museum within the next five years. The Fourways Hotel was chosen as the
permanent venue for the RLI functions which included the RLI Birthdays. A draft constitution was to be
formulated for the Johannesburg Association.
1983- 1985
In August 1983 a new committee was
elected consisting of: Ian Bate –Chairman, John Cole –Vice Chair, Secretary –Ken Bothma, Treasurer –Mrs Beech , Property Member –Alex Porterfield
Other committee members were: Frank Gerber, Tich Brotherton, Del Bolton, Frank Guthery, Dave Russell . Membership estimated - 32. During this time John Cole acknowledged
that Jono Dixon and his wife were regarded as the catalyst in keeping the RLIRA
alive and well over the past three years.
Members within the Association that many
of you may remember were: Alf Logan, Geoff Liversedge, Peter Eldridge, Jerry Strong
Highlights and
Achievements
A Dedication service was held at Dickie
Fritz on 5th February 1984. This was regarded as a tremendous
success with some R400 rand after expenses being raised on the day. Approximately 150 people attended a
function for the Dedication and RLI Birthday at the Fourways Golf Course on the
9th February 1985. Alan
Gerrish played the pipes. Brian Streak started putting together
material for a book on the RLI. The RLIRA joined forces with RASA who
had accepted RLI members as members of RASA. The introduction of an RLIRA Newsletter. The possibility of joining MOTHS and or
establishing our own “Saints“ Shellhole was investigated.
For various reasons the RLI Association
went into a hiatus of sorts for a number of years, with only occasional
informal and social gatherings taking place at various venues in Johannesburg in
a bid to keep the camaraderie and RLI spirit alive. These were largely done on the spur of the
moment and by word of mouth. Acknowledgement should be given to these men, and
although their names may not be known at this time, we thank them for their
loyalty and dedication during some trying times in our 38 year history in South
Africa.
1995
Derick Taylor became Chairman and
attempts to hold meetings and revive the Association were made. At time of going to press it is unknown how
successful Derick was, but all credit must go to him for rallying the Ouens and
for keeping the Flag flying. Unfortunately
there are no official records and very little information is available to
record events during this period.
2006-200
George Dempster arranged a gathering at the Fourways Gardens clubhouse, 120 individuals attended. Hamish MacIntyre became chairman and
attempts were made to reignite the Association, but this was met with limited
success as Hamish was working outside of the country. Again no records are on file for this period. Membership estimated at 120
2007-2009
George Dempster stepped in as Chairman and
appointed a committee. George and Chris
Cocks worked extremely hard at keeping the Association and RLI Spirit alive and
are generally regarded as the catalyst in getting the Africa Branch back on the
map so to speak. Acknowledgement too must given to
Shirley Dempster, who worked tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure that events
and functions arranged by the Association were managed professionally and to a
high standard.. Membership estimated at 223
Highlights and
Achievements
In cooperation with Tony Young and Chris
Cocks, George formalised a new constitution. Working with Martyn Hudson in the UK,
the committee were instrumental in getting RLI Colours safely ensconced in the
UK and the UK Museum become a reality. The successful launch of the book, The
Saints, edited by Chris Cocks, in London provided a rallying point for the
RLIRA to take off in the UK and Africa. George set up and to this day maintains
the RLIRA Website which he provides free of cost to the RLIRA.
2009-2012
Billy Wiggill - Chairman. His committee consisted of: Mervyn Kluckow-Treasurer (Rob Marsh
stepped in after Mervyn’s unfortunate passing). Chris Ras- Secretary (Alan Strachan
stepped in after Chris Ras had to stand down due to work commitments). Gary Huxham served as QM. Estimated membership -426
Highlights and
Achievements
Bill and his committee are credited with
a number of success in their term of office. The Cheetah Magazine was brought back to
life after some 29 years of dormancy, with Chris Cocks as editor. In November 2009, the first electronic
version, the ECheetah as it is known was published and disseminated to members
worldwide. The 49th RLI Birthday Reunion
held in Durban South Africa with 249 members friends and guests in attendance. A first for the RLIRA Association worldwide,
as on parade together were General Peter Walls, Colonel Charlie Aust and the
Patron Ron Reid Daly. Another milestone was
that under the same roof were some 23 RLI Officers and 12 Warrant Officers. The 50th RLI Birthday and
Reunion was held at Swarkops Airforce Base with some 352 members, friends and
guests attending. The event kicked off
with former Cos of the Battalion, Gen Hickman, Col Ian Bate and Col Charlie
Aust, together with former RSMs , Robin Tarr, Harry Springer and Ken Reid being
flown into the base on a Puma helicopter. The registration of the RLI and
Association Trademarks in South Africa. Initiation and publication of the legacy
book Africa’s Commando’s. Bill became Webmaster of the RLIRA site
in 2012 and initiated the first major overhaul of the RLI website.
2012-2015
Charlie Norris was elected as
Chairman. His committee consisted of: Rob Marsh -Treasurer, Alan Strachan- Secretary, Len Beechy – QM, Buks Theron – Joburg Rep, Skippy Mitchell Durban Rep, Maurice Gabriel Cape Town Rep.
The Africa committee, affectionately
known as the “Africa Korps” by Bill Wiggill who was now CEO of the Worldwide
Association, focussed on injecting a spark of life back into the African branch
of the RLIRA. The prevailing aim was to improve and maintain the camaraderie so
essential to a successfully operating branch.
The first thing was to change the
monthly prayer meeting from a Friday evening to lunch time on the first
Saturday of each month. Attendance went from less than to an average of 30+
within two months. These meetings were
held at the Dickie Fritz MOTH shell hole in Edenvale and continue some six
years later. Another innovation introduced was the
reading of the Roll of Honour of all members of the Battalion who had died
during that particular month. The committee held fortnightly meetings
at the Chairman’s house to keep a handle on and plan the business of the
branch.
The first major event was the planning
of the 52nd birthday and reunion which was held at Victoria Lake in
Germiston. The event went off well and was well attended. Notable was the amount of people appearing in
the requested dress code.
The various parades and memorials around
Johannesburg and Pretoria eg The Dellville Wood Parade were religiously
attended by members of the committee and other members started to support us
too. This led to the RLIRA becoming more
visible and had benefits as we were able to get a band of volunteers to form a
marching band for our annual parade.
A standardised dress code for formal
parades, designed to reflect Africa and the Battalion’s history was
introduced. This consisted of beret,
RLIRA tie, blazer, sand coloured chinos and vellies. This has now become our trademark dress code
and it is not unusual to see 100+ members attending formal parades thus kitted
out.
It became apparent that there was a
growing need to help former members of the Battalion who had fallen on hard
times or were in urgent need of medical funding. Thus the welfare program was started up and
continues to attract support to this day.
The 53rd and 54th
Annual birthday parades/two reunions were held at Dickie Fritz which had now
become the spiritual home of the RLIRA-Africa.
For the first time a band was used and the ouens took great pride and
pleasure into forming up and marching into position to the tune of “When the
Saints go Marching In”. We were starting
to get upwards of 50 plus members on parade and along with spouses and children
etc attendance at these events were in the region of 150+.
All subsequent birthday parades have
been held at Dickie Fritz on the first Saturday in February each year.
The committee also arranged and held
various outings/functions over the three years all of which were well supported
and attended. Soime were fund raisers
for a specific project eg Patron’s Day for welfare funding and others were
break even events to improve the camaraderie of the group. Two of note were a range day where
participants had a pistol competition and also fired Heckler and Koch
MP5s. Another great nostalgic day included
a shooting competition firing FNs and AKs as well as rides in a camouflaged Alouette lll with doors removed.
Finally members of the committee invited
Brian Lewis to brunch and by the end of the meal had a new chairman elect.
